city:rafah city

Israeli naval forces open fire at Gazan fishermen
Sept. 5, 2018 10:59 A.M. (Updated: Sept. 5, 2018 12:00 P.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=780944

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli naval forces opened fire, on Wednesday morning, at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the southern besieged Gaza Strip.

A Ma’an reporter said that Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen as they were working off the coast of Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip.

Sources added that no injuries were reported.

Several human rights groups reported that since the beginning of 2018, the Israeli navy has carried out more than 230 attacks against Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip, including shootings, detentions and confiscation of boats.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem confirmed that Israel’s Gaza closure and “harassment of fishermen” have been “destroying Gaza’s fishing sector,” with 95 percent of fishermen living below the poverty line.

In Excessive Use of Lethal Force, Israeli forces Kill Child and Wound Young Man in Southern Gaza Strip
March 22, 2017
▻http://pchrgaza.org/en/?p=8940

In a new crime of excessive use of force, on 22 March 2017, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian and seriously wounded a young man after firing artillery shells at them when both civilians were near the border fence with Israel in al-Shokah village, east of Rafah City. The investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) emphasized that the shelling incident violates the principle of necessity and distinction during which the use of force was excessive, especially the victims were only civilians and unarmed.

According to PCHR’s investigations and the testimony of an eyewitness, at approximately 00:00, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence off al-Nahdah neighborhood in al-Shokah village, east of Rafah City, fired around 15 artillery shells at 3 Palestinian civilians, who were only 300 meters away from the above-mentioned fence. According to the eyewitness, those civilians intended to sneak into Israel for work. The artillery shells directly hit one of them namely Yousif Sha’ban Ahmed Abu ‘Azrah (16), from al-Shabourah refugee camp in Rafah City, to the upper part of his body. Meanwhile, Mohammed Wahid ‘Atallah al-‘Akar (25), from Yibna refugee camp in Rafah, sustained shrapnel wounds to the chest and abdomen. The child died on the spot while al-‘Akar was transferred to the European Hospital in Khan Younis due to his serious wounds. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said to PCHR’s fieldworker that the Palestinian Liaison told the PRCS they received information from the Israeli Liaison there is a dead body in the aforementioned area. The PRCS immediately headed to the scene to find the child’s dead body 300 meters away from the fence while they found al-‘Akar lying around 500 meters away from the fence. It should be mentioned that since the beginning of 2017, the Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 21 others, including 3 children.